Starcrossed 5: Synergy of the Soul
by shadowglove
Summary: Sequel to Alliances of the Soul. When an unexpected tragedy, and very real danger threatens them, Chloe's group slowly forms and bands together. Descendants, reincarnations, witches, potential werewolves (other sorts of 'potentials') and even vampires must work together in order to save themselves. Chloe/Jeremy
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Don't own Smallville/Vampire Diaries**

Sequel to: Alliances of the Soul.

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><p>Chloe stared ahead of her in shock, unable to believe what was in front of her.<p>

"She's not dead. She _can't_ be dead." Bonnie's eyes were filled with tears. "_No_. This is _wrong_!"

Jeremy merely stood over the cold body resting on Chloe's bed in the Salvatore Boarding House, the boy keeping his emotions in check as he stared down at the girl and the awkward way her neck was bent. "Who did this? Why did they do this? And _why_ did they bring her dead body to _your bedroom_?"

Those were all questions that been going through Chloe's mind endlessly as she stared at the dead body of Caroline Forbes. "I don't know."

Bonnie cried, turned and ran away, the door slamming behind her.

"Can you go check on her, please?" Chloe stared down at Caroline's dead body.

"I don't want to leave you alone with her."

"I'll be fine, I wasn't close to Caroline the way she was." Chloe was finding it hard to stay calm though, and knew that Bonnie must be feeling things a hundred times worse than her. "Please?"

Jeremy sighed before he went after Bonnie.

Chloe went towards her bed and sat down on the edge, staring down into Caroline's deathly pale face. "Somehow-this is _my fault_." She closed her eyes tightly. "Why else would they bring your dead body here? Why else would they lay you on my bed?" She took in a deep breath and opened her eyes, wiping at the tears she only now let fall, staring down at Caroline. "_I'm so sorry_."

Suddenly Caroline gasped as she sat up in the bed, staring around her, confused. "What's going on? Where am I?"

Chloe's eyes widened as she stared at Caroline Forbes in shock. "_Oh my god_."

"Chloe?" Caroline stared at her in confusion. "Am I in your bedroom? What's-why am I so hungry?"

Chloe stared at Caroline, watched her eyes bleed black, her features sharpen, her face pale and her veins darken, just as Katherine's had in Chloe's memories. That was when the truth hit her hard. Someone had turned Caroline Forbes, the girl was either a vampire or transitioning into one. Why would they do this to Caroline of all people? And why would they drop a fledgling vampire onto Chloe's bed? Was someone trying to _kill_ her? And how in the world had they managed to get into the house? From what they'd learnt from Grams' grimoires a vampire had to be invited into a house by the owner to be able to enter the dwelling. So just how in the world had a _vampire_ gotten into Salvatore Boarding House?

The girl took in a deep breath and stared at the newly arisen girl. "Caroline, I need you to keep calm, okay? I know that what I'm going to say is going to be unbelievable but-."

Caroline suddenly cried out as she grabbed at her mouth, pain visible on her features and terror in her voice. "_What's going on_?"

Fangs.

_Fangs_.

Chloe stayed as calm as she could. "Caroline. I need you to _listen_ to me."

Caroline's blue eyes turned to her, terror in their depths.

"I know how crazy this sounds, but I think you're a vampire. I think the person who killed you turned you, and now you're turning." Chloe breathed in and out, trying to show Caroline what to do as the girl visibly hyperventilated. "I think you're hungry for blood."

"No!" Caroline shook her head. "You're crazy! I-!" She cried out as she pressed her hand harder to her mouth, muffling her words. "Smo… hrungy…!"

"I know you're scared, Caroline, but we'll get through this." Chloe kept her voice calm despite the fact that she felt about to faint. All she knew about what was going on with Caroline was that she was in the turning phase, and that if she didn't drink blood she'd die. Chloe was in way over her head here! She didn't know enough about vampires to be of a help to this girl!

_No. But Thaddeus might_.

Chloe's eyes narrowed.

"You're talking crazy, Chloe." Caroline hurried up from the bed. "I don't know what's going on..." She stepped into the sunlight and cried as she raised her hand to shield her gaze. "It's-it's so hot!"

Chloe was up in seconds and ushering the crying girl out into the shadow. "I think you're in the process of transforming."

But Caroline wasn't paying attention, her blues were now black as she stared at Chloe's neck. "I'm so hungry."

This was a volatile situation, and Chloe was worried about how being crowded by Bonnie and Jeremy would affect Caroline. She was already in bloodlust, barely hanging onto her humanity, and Chloe was scared that being surrounded by so many blood sources would overload her senses and cause the girl to vamp out and lose her mind - or forget these were her friends and not walking blood bags.

"Caroline, look at me." Chloe placed her hands on the girl's shoulders and moved her slightly so that her blues were staring into Chloe's greens. "I need you to look into my eyes and pay attention. Pay _close_ attention." When Caroline nodded quickly with a whimper, Chloe took in a deep breath. She'd never done this before and wasn't even sure she _could_. But she'd lived through the memory of Thaddeus utilizing the power.

Bonnie could be right. If she had Thaddeus' mysterious strength, she might have his _other_ abilities.

Feeling her eyes relax, Chloe kept eye contact with Caroline as she spoke slowly, her voice resonating in the room in an odd, ripple-like way. "You can control your hunger. Your hunger doesn't control you."

"My hunger doesn't control me." Caroline's voice was soft as she echoed the words, her pupils enlarging and contracting as she did so. "I control my hunger."

Chloe let go of her grip on Caroline's shoulders as something inside of her cracked, painfully, but she kept her gaze on Caroline's. "Just listen to me, and you'll be fine."

"I'll be fine." Caroline nodded as her pupils continued to expand and contract. "I'll listen to you."

The pain and cracking grew too much and Chloe looked away as she took in a couple of deep breaths.

"Chloe?" Caroline sounded worried as she reached for Chloe, who'd bent down. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Chloe nodded and looked up, relieved to see Caroline look like normal, even though those veins were still there. She stood and took in a deep breath. "I'm going to give you blood, but you have to stop when I tell you to, okay?"

Caroline looked uncertain, but nodded slowly as she raised her hands to trail against her fangs. "How am I a vampire?"

"Do you remember how you died?" Chloe moved towards her as she held out her arm.

Caroline whimpered and shook her head. "No."

Chloe sighed as she brought her wrist up to the blonde. "Come on."

Caroline reached for it.

"Wait!" Chloe's eyes widened and she hurried to the windows, shutting the curtains. "Just in case."

Caroline eyed the curtains and gulped. "Right. Good thinking."

Returning, Chloe lifted her wrist once more.

Caroline let out a deep sigh as the veins around her eyes grew, and then she reached for Chloe's wrist and buried her fangs into it.

Chloe flinched as she felt the puncture, and then shivered when the sensation of her blood being taken, sucked out through the punctures in her wrist. Only when she started feeling dizzy did she speak. "O-okay Caroline."

Caroline pulled away and dropped Chloe's wrist, blood dripping down the bottom half of her face, the features of which had sharpened. This was her 'vampire face'. She'd turned.

Chloe looked at Caroline, assessing her warily. "How are you feeling?"

Caroline licked her lips and then grinned as she clapped her hands in excitement. "Much better!"

The girl looked so much like her normal self it made Chloe chuckle.

"I'm still hungry, but its not as painful as before." Caroline touched her lips in question. "Is that due to that eye-thingy you did to me?"

Chloe opened her mouth to answer when she suddenly noticed something and narrowed her eyes. "Where is the necklace I gave you? You wear it all the time so why aren't you wearing it now?"

Caroline's hand went to her neck and then she paled and sat down, hard.

The door opened and Jeremy and Bonnie froze in the doorway.

Caroline turned to look at them, her face and voice a mixture of shock and extreme hurt. "Elena killed me!"

Jeremy's eyes met Chloe's. "She's alive."

Bonnie's did as well. "What did you _do_?"

"Hey! I didn't do this! _How_ exactly do you think I would've been able to?" Chloe then lifted her hand to stop their advance as she turned to Caroline. "How about now?"

Caroline's veins were making a comeback, and her voice was depressed and worried. "I want to rip their throats out and drink all their blood." She tilted her head in though. "But somehow I'm able to keep from doing it." She hugged herself. "It still hurts though."

Horror filled Bonnie's face as realization of what had happened dawned on her.

"She's a vampire," Chloe confirmed as she processed what "Elena killed me" meant for them. "Jere, I need you to go get blood from the butcher."

"Do we know what we're going to do with her?" Jeremy didn't look at Caroline. "Or address the fact that Katherine is back and apparently knows that you are Thaddeus?"

Caroline's eyes widened on Chloe. "You're a guy?"

Everyone ignored her.

"Please Jere," Chloe whispered.

He sighed and nodded before he turned to Bonnie. "Keep an eye on her."

"Of course." Bonnie nodded and threw him her keys. "Take my car."

He caught it and gave her a small nod. "Thanks." His dark eyes went to Caroline untrustingly before they turned to Chloe, his gaze on her bloodied wrist before a muscle jumped in his cheek and he turned and left.

Bonnie waited until he left to turn to Chloe and hug herself tightly, clearly unnerved. "How can Caroline even _be_ here? In this house? She wasn't invited by Zach."

That was a _very_ good question.

"Why are you guys taking this back-from-the-dead-as-a-vampire thing so well?" Caroline wanted to know as she looked between them. "Also: Elena killed me. Why isnt that having more of an effect on you all?"

Chloe sighed and sat down next to the vampire. "I'm going to need you to tell me everything about how... Elena... killed you."

Caroline looked between her and Bonnie before she let out a deep breath. "She came up to me and said she needed to talk about something, that it was important and she needed someone to talk to but that Bonnie was spending so much time with you lately that she didn't have anyone. I, uh, I get that feeling sometimes too so I decided to go along and listen to her. To be a friend." Caroline sighed, shoulders hunched. "But then, when we were by ourselves in the park she gave me this _really_ un-Elena smirked, bit into her wrist and forced me to drink her blood." She shivered at the memory. "She then said: 'Hi Thackery, meet me at our usual place, XOXO.'" Caroline's face was a mixture of fear and revulsion. "She then snapped my neck."

"How does she know?" Bonnie turned to Chloe, obvioulsly disturbed by this story and yet not comfortable with the fact that Caroline was a vampire now, and definitely worried as to the fact that Katherine Pierce was obviously back and knew more than she should.

"What is going _on_?" Caroline's voice was shrill and vulnerable. "Why would Elena do that to me? And who is Thackery?"

"That wasn't Elena, Caroline." Chloe reached out and placed her hand on Caroline's shoulder. "That was Katherine. I think she's an ancestor of Elena and Jeremy's."

"An _ancestor_?" Caroline's eyes then widened. "Oh. Vampire ancestor. I see."

"You're taking this very well." Bonnie narrowed her eyes.

"I wasn't at first. I was on the verge of a meltdown of epic proportions," Caroline admitted. "But whatever Chloe did to me is somehow keeping me from freaking out." Her eyes rose to Bonnie. "Or from tearing your throat out despite the fact that the sound of your heartbeat - of the pulse in your neck - is so tempting and I'm starving." She cleared her throat. "But if I listen to Chloe everything will be fine, and she said I control my hunger, it doesn't control me."

Bonnie took a step back before she suddenly narrowed her eyes on Chloe. "Tell me you didn't!"

Chloe flinched. "Not now, Bonnie."

"That's _dangerous, _Chloe!" Bonnie was furious. "We didn't even know what could happen to you if you tried it and yet you did it when we weren't even here? What if something had happened?"

"Not. Now." Chloe flinched at the thought of how Jeremy was going to react when he found out.

"Not now?" Bonnie gave a dark laugh as she whipped out her phone and began to text furiously into it.

"Tell me you're not texting Jeremy!" Chloe stood immediately, pale.

"_Send_." Bonnie looked up from her phone. "See you try to weasel out of this when he comes back, young lady."

Chloe groaned and collapsed onto the bed next to Caroline.

The blonde vampire looked between them and blinked. "I'm missing out on a lot, huh?" She then cried and gripped at her stomach. "I-I-!" She cried and a hand went to her head. "What's happening to me?"

Bonnie hurried close. "What's wrong?"

"I'm in agony!" Caroline's voice rose and her eyes darkened. "I-I feel like there's this invisible wall that closing in all around me and-!" She screamed.

"She might need blood." Chloe held her hand out to Caroline. "Drink."

"It could also be the fact that she's not been invited!" Bonnie snapped at Chloe.

Too late.

Caroline bit down on Chloe's wrist and drank her blood deeply, her trembling and whimpers slowly beginning to die down as she did so.

Chloe reached out and rubbed Caroline's back soothingly as she looked up at Bonnie. "It must've been lack of blood. She's only just been turned."

"You also know that she shouldn't be able to be in this house, Chloe." Bonnie glared. "Zach needs to invite her in. That's how it works." She then froze. "Unless..."

Chloe looked up at her. "Unless what?"

Bonnie eyed Caroline feeding from Chloe's wrist with narrowed eyes. "I have a theory." She licked her lips. "What if its because of your blood?"

"What about my blood?" Chloe frowned in confusion.

"Well, Thaddeus was _special_, and you've got the two abilities we know he had." Her gaze went to Caroline before she returned to Chloe. "What if your blood is somehow making her be able to stay in the house?"

"How would that work?" Chloe was intrigued.

"I'm not sure, it's still a work in progress, but if I'm right then you might still have to give her some blood in between feedings or she'll feel that pain." Bonnie took in a deep breath. "And she can't leave this house. Not now. It's sunlight outside." She groaned and went to lean against the wall. "How are we going to explain her sudden nighttime fixation to anyone? Caroline's the preppiest prep that ever prepped. And what about school?"

Caroline slipped her fangs from Chloe's wrist and licked at the blood around her mouth. "What about my _mom_?"

Right. They hadn't even thought about that.

Caroline being unable to move around in the daylight... Chloe's eyes widened. "When did Katherine kill you?"

Caroline frowned. "This morning."

Chloe gave a laugh as her hands went to her mouth.

"This isn't funny." Caroline frowned darker.

"No - sorry - I just-." Chloe grinned. "Katherine killed you in the _park_. She killed you this morning in the park."

Caroline looked very hurt. "_Yes_."

Bonnie's eyes widened. "She was out in daylight."

"_Exactly_!" Chloe grinned. "Which means that she knows a way of going around during the day without getting burnt to a crisp!"

Caroline's hurt morphed immediately as she jumped up, excitement in her blues. "So I mightn't be forced to live in the darkness forever and get ridiculously pale!"

"_Exactly_." Chloe was getting excited. "She can help us figure out how to get _you_ back into the daylight." She grabbed her bag. "I'll be back as soon as possible."

"Where do you think you're going?" Bonnie Bennett clearly thought she was Chloe's mother.

"I have a date with a vampire." She grabbed her keys. "You stay here and keep an eye on Caroline. I'll be back as quickly as I can - and with information on how to help her."

"What makes you think Katherine will just _volunteer_ that information?" Bonnie wanted to know.

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think she'll have a choice?"

Bonnie glared and grabbed Chloe as she yanked her off to the side and spoke in a low, harsh whisper. "I am not going to let you continue using that! It was foolish to use it on Caroline, even if it helps her!"

"Yeah, uh, guys?" Caroline called from across the room. "I can still hear you." She pointed to her ears. "I think I have super hearing."

Bonnie sighed and then spoke normally since there was no reason why she should be hissing anymore. "Chloe, it's dangerous."

"I'll be _fine_, Bon." Chloe reached out and hugged the extremely tense, extremely unhappy witch. "She just wants to talk, and I need to know how she knows about me."

Bonnie sighed and nodded before she hugged back. "Be _careful_, Chlo."

"I will," the blonde promised as she pulled away. "Caroline, stay here, okay? Don't leave my room. Don't attack Bonnie or Jeremy - no matter _how_ hungry you get. And don't talk to Zach."

Caroline nodded. "Okie dokie."

Bonnie just eyed her vampiric friend and shook her head.

Chloe took in a deep breath and hurried away to meet with Katherine Pierce.

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><p>What was up with Elena Gilbert?<p>

Tyler raised an eyebrow as he eyed Elena and wondered at the air of change in her. He didn't know what it was about the girl, but he suddenly _did not_ like her. Or feel like he could trust her. He didn't know _why_ he felt this way about his best friend's girlfriend, but there was something about Matty's girl today that told Tyler's instincts that she was dangerous and he should stay as far away as possible.

The bored-looking girl suddenly straightened and smirked as she stood with her hands on her hips, an evilly pleased expression on her face.

Tyler followed her gaze to find Chloe Alexander making her way towards her, her green eyes narrowed.

Things had been strained between him and the blonde since he'd attacked her that once, which was a bummer. He'd enjoyed their frenemy banter, and was surprised to find that he missed it. There was no way he was attracted to the girl because, damn it, she was scary, but a part of him had learnt to respect her for some reason. Plus, he didn't have anyone who could be just as much as a bitch to him as he was a bastard to them, and he enjoyed that.

_It's reasons like that that Matty tells you you're twisted, man_.

Chloe reached Elena, the two of them were too far away for Tyler to make out what they were saying, but he could see that Chloe was tense and Elena... Elena was _flirty_.

Tyler blinked and took out his phone to text Matt. **How straight is your girlfriend?**

Matt texted back. _She just read that, you know. She called you a perve._

Tyler blinked, eyes wide. **You're with Elena right now?**

Matt answered. _Yeah_.

**Are you in the park?**

Matt sent him a confused emoticon. _No. We're at the Grill. Are you okay_ _bro_?

**It's nothing, ignore me.** With that Tyler put his phone away and looked at the two women snarking in front of him.

If Elena Gilbert was with Matt, then who the _hell_ was that?

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><p>"I wasn't sure how long it was going to take for you to come." Katherine smirked as she stood in modern clothes, yet her hair at least was the same. "It isn't nice to leave a lady waiting you know, Thackery."<p>

"There's more efficient ways of passing along messages." Chloe stood in front of the vampire, not exactly sure why she wasn't even nervous. This was a vampire for crying out loud! "There's this nifty device called a phone. There's also the internet."

"But an email or text really doesn't pack a punch, does it?" She was completely unrepentant. "How's the girl?"

"She's a vampire now, thanks to you." Chloe narrowed her eyes. "You ruined her life and yet it doesn't seem to bother you at all."

"Believe me, I watched that girl, being a vampire will be the best thing that ever happened to her." Katherine eyed her up and down. "Where's she now?"

"Exactly where you left her." Chloe glared. "How did you get into the house anyway? You weren't invited."

"What? You thought _I_ would lug her body around?" Katherine snorted as she anchored her hands to her hips. "I Compelled some human to do the dirty work and then forget."

"How are you able to go about in the sunlight?" Chloe's eyes narrowed.

Katherine's smirk grew. "This is quid pro quo. I help you, you help me."

"You're joking, right? You killed my friend!"

"I _turned_ your friend," Katherine countered. "And anyway, I needed to see if you still had _that_ ability, and considering that one of my spies is following _Mr Gilbert_ as he gets blood, well... I don't care if Bonnie is a Bennett witch. You wouldn't have left her alone in the house with poor little Caroline if the disgustingly peppy blonde wasn't under control. And she _wouldn't_ be under control. Not newborn. Not unless you _controlled_ her."

Chloe let out a growl. "Just spell it out, Katherine, what do you want?"

Katherine smirked as she raised her chin. "We're going to finish what we started a lifetime ago."

"Oh really?" Chloe raised an eyebrow. "And why would I do that?"

"Because, I know how to help your friend adjust to her life and pretend to be human, which she'll need considering there's a vampire hunting council here who will kill her if they know what she is." Katherine took a couple of steps forwards. "And, most importantly, because Klaus is _still_ looking for us."

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><p><strong>TBC<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Don't own Smallville/Vampire Diaries**

**Chapter 2 of 4.**

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><p>"How do you know we can trust her?" Jeremy wanted to know, eyes narrowed on Katherine Pierce as she talked Bonnie through a ritual that would imbue the lapiz lazul necklace with the ability to let Caroline walk in the sunlight.<p>

"We don't trust her." Chloe hugged herself as she looked around the woods they'd gone to so that Bonnie could perform the spell. "But we need her and she needs us. We can trust in _that_."

"You're always so untrusting," Katherine called over her shoulder, her gaze going to Jeremy before she smirked and turned to gaze at Bonnie. "You know, guy or girl, that soul is so _clingy. _I never saw the appeal."

A muscle jumped in Bonnie's cheek but she ignored the vampire as she began to chant the words that would create the Daywalking Amulet.

Jeremy turned to Chloe with a look that clearly told her he disliked Katherine as much as Evelyn had.

The lapiz lazul necklace glowed and hovered above Bonnie's palm before magic exploded around it like fireworks and slowly disappeared into nothingness as the necklace lowered itself unto Bonnie's palm. The witch's gaze went to Jeremy and Chloe.

Jeremy smirked and gave her a thumbs up.

Chloe's lips parted. "You are _such_ a rockstar!"

Bonnie smiled brightly at them.

"Yes, well..." Katherine pouted. "None of this would be possible without me."

"None of this would be _necessary_ without you," Bonnie glared at her before she took in a deep breath. "I'm going to take this to Caroline. I don't want to leave her alone in the house much longer."

"Me neither," Chloe agreed. "I don't want Zach to come in and find her all vampire-fied."

Katherine raised an eyebrow. "I have a question."

Jeremy glared at her. "And we should care because...?"

Katherine sneered at him. "Because George Lockwood's descendant is behind that tree and my question is if he already knows that he's one accident away from being a werewolf."

They all turned towards the distant tree in question. For a couple of seconds there was nothing - and then Tyler Lockwood stepped out from behind it.

His eyes narrowed on Katherine. "What do you mean when you say _werewolf_?"

Katherine snorted and turned to Chloe. "He's not so bright, huh? Definitely takes after George." She then turned to Tyler. "You've got werewolf in your genes. She's a witch. He's the reincarnation of a _seriously_ annoying socialite. I'm a vampire. She... no one knows exactly _what_ she is." She turned to Chloe. "Have you figured that out yet, by the way?"

Tyler's eyes were wide in horror. "Are you guys _insane_?"

"Tyler..." Bonnie tried.

"No. This is-vampires-_werewolves_-? I don't-!" Tyler's eyes widened when, in the blink of an eye, Katherine was in front of him and pushed him hard against the tree.

"Stop. Being. So. Annoying." She glared at him.

His eyes widened on her. "Your eyes! Your _teeth_!"

She frowned and then looked down on him to find the Vervain bracelet. "I see." She growled and let him go. "Can we forget this and get to the important part?"

Tyler's mouth opened and closed before he turned to Chloe. "She's a vampire!"

Katherine merely rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed. "I want to kill him."

Chloe glared at her.

"Relax. I said I _wanted_ to kill him, not that I actually _would_." She folded her arms over her chest. "I never kill off anything that could prove to be useful in the future. You, the werewolf and the witch? Definitely useful." Her eyebrow raised as she gazed at Jeremy. "_Him_ on the other hand..."

Jeremy bustled, eyes narrowed.

Tyler pushed forwards. "Will someone explain to me _what the hell is going on_?!"

"Yeah, I, uh, second that," a completely unexpected voice declared.

Everyone turned in horror to see Matt Donovan and Elena Gilbert a little behind them, eyes wide.

"Riiiiight." Katherine tapped her bottom lip with faux innocence. "I forgot to mention they were hiding too, didn't I?"

Katherine had always done things that had made Thaddeus wan to throttle her. Now, Chloe was feeling the exact same feelings _as herself_. It was a little trippy.

"_Elena_." Jeremy's eyes widened as they went between his sister and the vampire.

"Who-do I have a _twin_?" Elena's eyes were on Katherine. "Why didn't anyone tell me I had a _twin_?"

In seconds Katherine was in front of her, eyes shifting. "Forget you ever saw this."

Elena and Matt both took a couple of steps backwards. "Your eyes!"

Katherine's gaze searched them and then she threw her hands up in the air in frustration as she turned to Chloe. "Oh _come on_! How many people did you give Vervain to?"

"She's not human." Elena looked close to hyperventilating. "What is she?"

"The better version of you," Katherine muttered as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Jere, what is going _on_?" Matt moved around Katherine with Elena. "We got this weird text from Tyler and we decided to go see why he was acting so off - and then we see him trailing after this car and - and -."

Elena's eyes were on Bonnie. "You weren't joking when you said you were a witch."

Bonnie flinched. "Surprise."

Chloe glanced between them. "Look, I know that everyone has questions - but Caroline needs us right now. Let's just all go to Zach's and talk after we've helped her."

"What happened to Caroline?" Elena's eyes widened.

"She killed her." Jeremy pointed to Katherine.

"I _turned_ her," Katherine huffed. "There's a big difference!"

"_Turned her into what_?" Matt paled.

Chloe sighed. "We need to go now."

Bonnie nodded. "She's right. We can talk there."

Everyone had questions, but somehow they managed to keep them long enough to return to their cars and head towards the Salvatore Boarding House.

* * *

><p>Caroline could walk in the sunlight and the realization had her crying in happiness. Elena and Bonnie were on her either side, and while they offered her verbal comfort neither touched her. Chloe had warned them not to push the newborn's control on her hunger, and Katherine had agreed, until she'd changed her mind and told Elena to hug Caroline. Everyone had ignored that suggestion since clearly the older vampire didn't like her look-a-like. Caroline had some choice words for Katherine, (mostly: I don't like you, you're mean!) but otherwise she didn't seem scared of her.<p>

Jeremy did not like the idea that they needed Katherine, but she definitely knew more than she was saying, and the reason why she wasn't saying was so she'd be useful to them. Evelyn mightn't have known that Katherine was a vampire, but she'd always disliked and distrusted Katherine, and maybe Chloe was right and Evelyn's feelings still controlled him to a degree because he couldn't _stand_ Katherine Pierce. He almost didn't want them to accept her help - despite the fact that Caroline obviously needed it if she was to survive in her new state.

Matt and Tyler were taking this whole situation quietly but visibly bristling with questions.

Elena looked creeped out but trying to be supportive of both Bonnie and Caroline.

Katherine was visibly enjoying everyone's uncomfortableness.

Chloe, well, Chloe looked tired. And sometimes she winced when she thought others weren't watching. Jeremy was worried that this was because of what she'd done to Caroline. When Thaddeus used that power something inside of him felt like it was shattering - something already cracked. Had using the ability on Caroline made whatever it was crack even further?

Damn it.

Jeremy worried like hell about this.

"These two aren't necessary, you know." Katherine felt the need to point out as she motioned between Matt and Elena before she turned to Jeremy. "We already had _one_ unnecessary person, why expand?"

"Because I don't trust you to Compel them," Chloe responded.

"You're no fun." Katherine gave a pout.

"We have a right to know." Elena's eyes narrowed. "Why do you look like me?"

"Excuse me?" Katherine scoffed. "I've been alive for hundreds of years! _You_ look like _me_!" She sneered. "It's also ridiculously easy to play you. I watched you and Matty Blue Eyes for a while to figure out how to pretend to be you to fool Caroline." Katherine placed her hands on her hips. "I realized that all I had to do was be all gloomy and depressing." She motioned to Caroline. "Ask _her_ how well it worked."

Elena's lips parted in outrage.

Katherine ignored her and turned to Chloe. "I hate to take back what I said before, but Klaus will want her, too, and I'm not up to giving him _anything_ he wants."

"I don't know who this Klaus is, but he can't have Elena!" Matt snapped.

"Oh, you're adorable." Katherine smirked. "Klaus is the vampire king. If he wants _you_ bent over, there's really nothing you could do to stop him."

"Vampire king?" Jeremy heard the waver in his own voice and hated it.

"Yes, well, at least he considers himself the vampire king." Katherine glared, disgust on her features. "He's an Original Vampire, and with that status comes some perks, such as extra abilities other vampires don't have, which makes him powerful. Case in point, so far there doesn't seem to be a way to actually kill him."

Jeremy blanched at that. Chloe had a powerful immortal who _couldn't be killed_ after her.

"There's always a way to kill something." Bonnie frowned. "Everything in nature has a weakness."

"Believe me, if there was a way to kill him I wouldn't have spent hundreds of years on the run," Katherine snapped before she pointed to Chloe. "And _she_ wouldn't have spent a couple of _lifetimes_ doing the same."

Caroline held her hand up.

Bonnie blinked. "Yeah, Care?"

Caroline looked left and right before she lowered her head. "I'm hungry."

Jeremy's eyes narrowed. "You already drank all the blood I brought."

"One, that was _animal_ blood, not as nourishing to a newborn." Katherine rolled her eyes. "Two, she's a _newborn_. She's going to be ravenous for a while." She then smirked. "Someone here want to feed her?"

Elena took an unconscious step back and then looked utterly guilty for it.

Chloe sighed and began to roll up her sleeve.

"Heyheyhey!" Jeremy glared at her. "No! We'll just go and get more blood." He grabbed her arm and turned to look at the others. "We'll be back." And with that he yanked her behind him to where her car was parked at the front of the Salvatore Boarding House. "Chloe, you just can't keep feeding a vampire!"

"Don't say that word so loudly!" She scolded with a look around before they got into her car and began the drive towards the nearest butcher's.

Now that they were alone, Jeremy couldn't keep his mouth shut, no matter how much he knew that it wasn't the moment. "You used your Compulsion on her despite knowing that it hurts you."

Chloe flinched. "I had to, Jere."

"No. You didn't _have_ to. Just like you didn't _have_ to give her your blood!" Jeremy glared at her, furious. Couldn't she see that she was already in so much danger and didn't need to carelessly get into more? "Just like you didn't _have_ to team up with Katherine Pierce again!"

"I haven't _teamed up_ with her. But we need her. Caroline does." Chloe let out a sigh as she turned the corner. "Jeremy, considering that Zach is growing vervain in the Boarding House I wouldn't be surprised if Katherine's story of vampire hunters in Mystic Falls is true. That means that Caroline is in danger, and it's my fault. It also means that Caroline has to somehow get over her death and work alongside the person who killed her! And. It. Is. My. Fault!"

"This isn't _your_ fault!"

"Katherine killed her to get to _me_, Jeremy!" Chloe glared at him. "She did it so that she'd have leverage over _me_." She let out a sigh and stared ahead of her. "It _is_ my fault."

He sighed as he watched her, could see the guilt on her features, and felt a wave of both annoyance and understanding. He could get why she saw things that way, but that didn't mean he agreed with it.

They were silent for the rest of the drive to the butcher's, and Jeremy wondered why the guy who'd sold him the blood before didn't question why he needed so much blood so quickly. It made Jeremy wonder if this happened frequently and the butcher had just learnt to mind his own business.

Someone who _wasn't_ minding his own business was this guy in a hoodie off to the side. Jeremy had seen him there the last time he'd come, and the guy was now observing him and Chloe with visible intrigue. Jeremy didn't recognize the guy, didn't think he was local. He probably wouldn't have paid him any mind or even noticed him if it wasn't for the intricate tattoo that ran up his arm.

"What do two kids like you want so much blood for?"

Jeremy bristled.

Chloe looked up, quite placidly. "A prank."

Jeremy turned towards her.

So did the guy with the tattoo. "What sort of a prank involves animal blood?"

She smirked at him. "Clearly you've never seen Carrie."

The guy eyed her before he smirked and held out his glove. "Name's Robertson."

Chloe eyed the glove before she put her hand in his and shook it. "Chloe." She slipped her hand free and wrapped her arm around Jeremy's. "This is my boyfriend."

Jeremy fought the urge to look at her in wide-eyed shock. Why had she just called him that? Sure, he didn't _mind_, but considering how she was skirting their feelings and relationship all the time he hadn't expected her to come out and say that. So in lieu of looking stupid and confused, Jeremy reached out and shook his hand. "Jeremy."

Robertson nodded as he pulled his hand back. "You two local?"

"I am." Jeremy wondered what the faint lemony scent was and where it was coming from.

"Here you go, kids." The butcher passed them a large paper bag filled with bags of blood.

Chloe eyed Robertson.

Robertson eyed Chloe.

Jeremy grabbed the bag and turned to him. "We've got to be going." He opened the door for Chloe to slip out. "Cool tat by the way," and with that he followed out after her.

Chloe rubbed her fingers together and brought them up to her nose. She reached out for Jeremy's hand, brought it to her nose, and sniffed as well when he got into the car. "I thought so."

Jeremy narrowed his eyes as he closed the car door in time to see the guy appear at the butcher's open door. He brought his own hand to his nose and smelt the lemony scent he had earlier. "What is it?"

"That guy has vervain soaked into his glove." She started the engine. "Also? Something felt _off_ about him."

"He can't be a part of the vampire hunting group, he's not local." Jeremy kept his gaze on the guy as they reversed out and then joined the traffic. "Are there nomadic vampire hunters?"

"Maybe." She shivered. "I don't know, he didn't feel normal."

"What do you mean?" Jeremy finally turned his gaze on her. "He looked like any other tattooed weirdo in a butcher shop to me."

"Tattooed?" Chloe made a face. "He had tattoos? I didn't notice."

"How could you not notice them? They started at the back of his palm and curved up his arm."

Chloe shifted her gaze to the guy in the rearview mirror before she turned to look at Jeremy. "I don't see a single tattoo."

He used his side mirror to eye the guy. "But _I_ do."

"That begs two questions." She took in a deep breath. "One - why can't I see the tattoos? Two - why can _you_ see the tattoos?" She let out a breath. "There's a notepad in the dashboard. "Think you can recreate them for me?"

"Not in detail..." Jeremy opened the dashboard and found the notepad with pencil in it. He closed the door and leaned back on is seat as he flipped through the pages, glancing at the different sketches and notes jotted down on the pages. "What's this?"

"It's called a notepad," she cheeked.

"Ha ha." He rolled his eyes and then stopped on a page and read its contents. "I talked to Stefan/Lucas on the phone again today. This time while he was hesitant he didn't hang up immediately on discovering that I wasn't Zach. He even asked me how I was and talked to me for a couple of minutes. I wonder what the change is all about." Jeremy raised an eyebrow. "Is this your diary?"

She snorted. "Very funny. No. I jot down things that catch my attention or make me question things."

Jeremy continued to flip through the pages until he came across a picture of Evelyn and Thaddeus which had been stuck between the pages. His eyes widened and his heart raced as he pulled it out and stared at it. In the picture Evelyn sat on a tree stump and smiled up at Thaddeus, who grinned down wryly at her. "How-how did you get this picture?"

"Hmmm?" Chloe glanced over and her eyes widened as she yanked it from his grip. "Forget you saw that!"

"How about-_no_?" He yanked it back and flipped the picture around to see, in cursive writing, the words: **Etiam in morte, superest amor**_. _"What does it mean?"

"In death, love survives." Chloe blushed darkly. "Bonnie found it. Don't ask me where." Her blush grew. "It's a nice picture so I figured I'd keep it."

Jeremy didn't think he'd ever seen her this embarrassed, and he kinda loved it. It was obvious that despite how _rational_ she tried to be about things, that she obviously felt much more about him than she liked to admit. He liked that, a lot. It was why he didn't push the issue, didn't push _her_. Instead he merely smiled brightly, put the picture back within the pages of the notepad, and found a blank page before he got lost in drawing the little he could remember about Robertson's mysterious tattoos.

* * *

><p>When they returned, it was to an almost full-out war. Chloe didn't know what had started it, but she had two guesses as to <em>who<em> had. And the two guesses were glaring at each other viciously.

"_Enough_!" Bonnie snapped just as Chloe and Jeremy were arriving. Magic rippled out of her and pushed Katherine and Tyler away from each other, the vampire and the man with the werewolf gene in his body looked about ready to murder each other. Caroline sat in the corner, her eyes bloodshot and dark veins down her face as she shook and visibly tried to hold back her hunger. Matt looked like he wasn't sure whether to back up his friend or hold back his girlfriend, who kept yelling things at Katherine.

Chloe wasn't exactly sure _how_ things had escalated this quickly.

"SHUT UP!" Jeremy yelled and brought everyone's attention to him. "You heard Bonnie! Quit it! We mightn't like each other, but we're going to have to work together if this is going to work out."

In seconds Caroline was standing and had grabbed the bag of blood out of his hands.

"Caroline stop!" Chloe looked around her, terrified that the girl would start drinking out in the open where anyone could see her.

Caroline whimpered and looked up at her, body trembling as tears filled her eyes "But I'm so hungry!"

Bonnie seemed to realize why Chloe had stopped Caroline, and nodded. "Come on. Let's go to the shed. You can eat there without anyone seeing you do so."

Caroline nodded and, at a ridiculously fast pace, disappeared into the shed with the plastic bag of blood.

Bonnie sighed and squared her shoulders and she walked towards the shed. "We're going to have to talk to her about walking at a normal pace."

Katherine turned to Chloe. "How do you put up with these people?"

Chloe just sighed and turned to the others. "What happened?"

"It doesn't matter." Matt cleared his throat. "They've explained everything to us while you two were gone, and I want to say something to you."

Chloe's eyes widened. She hadn't expected a confrontation from _Matt_ of all people. "Go ahead."

He squared his lips and took in a deep breath. "Thank you. For the vervain things you gave us. You were trying to protect us, and we appreciate that."

Chloe's eyes widened, not having expected that.

"I would have appreciated being told I have a slutty mirror image though," Elena mumbled.

"Little Miss Frumpy with the flat dumpy is _such_ a buzzkill." Katherine rolled her eyes.

"Why didn't you _tell_ me that I had the werewolf gene?" Tyler snapped at Chloe, not at all grateful like Matt. "I think that's something I should've been told! _And_ the fact that it could be triggered!"

"Are you planning on killing someone?" Katherine asked. "Because you being at fault for someone's death is the trigger."

Tyler went pale. "What if it's an accident?"

She snorted. "You still would've caused it, wouldn't you?"

He took a couple of staggered steps back. "Last summer I nearly put this guy into a coma during one of our games. I could've-I-." He sat on the ground suddenly, visibly shaken.

"Boohoo." Katherine was not a sympathetic person at all. "I think even your _ancestor_ was braver than you, and _he_ always had his tail between his legs. Literally."

A muscle jumped in Tyler's cheek as he glared at the vampire. "Would it trigger if I kill a _vampire_?"

Katherine sneered at him, not at all afraid.

"There isn't _time_ for this." Chloe glared at them. "On top of the Council, we have a rogue vampire hunter with odd tattoos who has just come into town."

Katherine looked up at that, eyes narrowed. "Odd tattoos?"

Jeremy lifted the drawing he'd half-way completed. "He had these interconnected ones on his arm, and Chloe couldn't-."

Katherine snatched the drawing from him, eyes wide. "Impossible!"

"What is it?" Elena came a little closer to peek a look at the design.

"It's-I've seen this design before-but they're supposed to be _extinct_." Katherine threw the notebook back at Jeremy, who caught it in midair. "You have one of the _Five_ here in Mystic Falls." She narrowed her eyes. "That means that any vampire or supernatural creature in Mystic Falls needs to leave. Now. Before its too late."

* * *

><p><strong>TBC<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Don't own Smallville/The Vampire Diaries**

* * *

><p>Robertson was sticking around in Mystic Falls. For Caroline's safety she'd "gone to stay a couple of days with her father and Stephen", which, of course, meant that she was camped outside of the borders of Mystic Falls in the Lockwood's cabin. Considering that Mr Lockwood hadn't invited Caroline, Bonnie had a working theory as to how exactly she could enter the cabin - as well as the Salvatore Boarding House. Since she was feeding solely from Chloe's blood (they couldn't draw Robertson's attention to them even more than it already was by buying more blood) Bonnie believed that Caroline was somehow benefiting somehow from Chloe's 'magic' (or whatever the hell made Chloe 'special'). After Caroline was forced out of the cabin due to the intense pain the first day, only for it to be alleviated when Chloe arrived after the urgent text she'd sent, Bonnie theorized that not only did Caroline need a regular intake of Chloe's blood to bypass the "invitation", but needed a regular amount of Chloe's presence in the same place for it to work as well.<p>

Considering that, Chloe told Zach that she was staying a couple of nights with Bonnie (who backed up the story) which was how she managed to spend most of her time in the cabin with Caroline. Jeremy wasn't happy at the thought of her being alone under the same roof with a newborn vampire, but he'd been put on Hunter patrol, and along with Bonnie and Tyler (who figured, as a potential supernatural creature he needed to know all about what and who might potentially hunt him) were trailing Robertson and keeping tabs on him, reporting back to Chloe as they did so.

Matt and Elena contributed by bringing food to those in the cabin. Caroline still nibbled on human food (though she drank mostly blood) and Chloe was always famished due to being the vampire's sole blood source. She appreciated the fact that Matt and Elena were thoughtful enough to bring her things that naturally boosted her blood (like beets). That was very thoughtful of them.

Katherine, to no one's surprise, skipped town. She'd told them they were fools for staying, and then had left. If they survived this Hunter and he left, Chloe had no doubt Katherine would be back, even though she'd offered _no help whatsoever_. But she knew that with Caroline they needed Katherine. She was the only one who could teach Caroline to control herself, to hunt and yet not kill. Katherine had survived undetected (not only by humans but by Klaus) by being discreet, and that was something Caroline desperately needed to learn.

As Chloe stared out of the window into the woods while Caroline slept on the bed, she wasn't surprised to be taken into a memory. She was weaker and definitely sleepy in this state. It would be easy to slip into a vision. So that was why she merely sighed when Damon Salvatore appeared in the window, walking around aimlessly.

Shaking her head, Chloe slipped out of the cabin and moved towards him. "Hey Damon." She still couldn't get over how much he looked like Adam Knight. Did he and Stefan had human doppelgängers (like Katherine) or had Damon and Stefan been in Smallville?

He stopped and turned to look at her, eyes wide. "_You_." His eyes then narrowed. "What are you doing here?" In seconds he'd superspeeded towards her in an obvious effort to intimidate. In this memory he was apparently a vampire.

"You know, I liked you better as a human than a vampire," she informed him. "You were much nicer then."

He opened his mouth and then closed it, lips a grim line. "Who else knows?"

She raised an eyebrow. "That you and Stefan are brothers, or that Katherine turned you?"

In seconds she was pushed against a tree, his hand at her neck and squeezing as his eyes shifted in what Katherine had called Compulsion. "How much do you know, how did you find out, and who else knows?"

That something inside of her acted instinctively, not even giving her time to even consider using her ability as an option. Then again, she was living through a memory, so whatever happened was going to happen, and she had no control over it. She felt her eyes shift as that something within her cracked even further, and when her voice spoke it wasn't only hoarse from the chokehold, but it was low and echoing. "Don't. Touch. Me."

Damon's eyes widened as he flung himself violently away from her.

She then punched him as hard as she could, causing his face to swing and redden from the force of the blow. "Don't you _ever_ do that again!"

Damon moved to grab her but stopped within inches of her, his eyes wide as he tried to grab her over and over again only to stop inches short of actually touching her. The vampire paused and stepped away, his eyebrows nearly touching in a frown. "What sort of witch _are_ you?"

"If we weren't friends, Dray, I would've-." She didn't know _what_ she would've done – what she _could've_ done – so she left it at that.

Damon froze. "_Dray_?"

She ignored him. Whenever she had visions or memories they were usually somehow connected, even if only very vaguely, to something she was experiencing. So maybe, just maybe, this memory could give her some insight into what they were facing.

The girl turned to him, eyes narrowed. "This is going to sound weird-."

"This is weird already," he informed her.

She, once more, ignored him. "Have you ever met or dealt with one of the Five?" At his expression her eyes widened. "You have!"

"They're myth." He looked like that older kid who was disgusted at their younger sibling for still believing in Santa Claus. "They're stories told to newborn vampires to make sure they behave."

"They're _not_ a myth." Chloe informed the memory, wondering if maybe Thaddeus had faced someone from the Five before – or if she might just have the ability to converse with her memories for information's sake. "We have one here in Mystic Falls, right now."

He raised an eyebrow. "You're lying."

"Well, if it's a lie, Katherine's lying, not me." She then paused. "And she could very well be lying."

Damon superspeeded towards her only to stop within inches with a growl. "Don't lie!"

"I'm not. She really said that." Chloe eyed the way he seemed unable to touch her.

Damon's face was furious. "Katherine is-."

Chloe's phone rang and she pulled it from her pocket. "Calling me." This was new. Reality and vision were mixing in even more impossible ways. "Hold a second, okay?" She answered the phone and brought it to her ear. "I thought you were hiding until the Big Bad Hunter blew out of town."

"I am." Katherine's voice was unrepentant. "You should do the same."

"I don't run away and abandon my friends, Katerina." It was so easy to slip into the same annoyed way that Thaddeus would address the vampire.

"Really, Thaddeus, that judging little tone in your voice is going to get you nowhere," she responded with a chuckle. "You know, just as well as I do, that we have to disappear if we're to survive. Both you and I have made a… living… of disappearing."

"I get killed every lifetime." Chloe glared. "You disappear and leave everyone who cares for you in the dust."

"Semantics."

She looked up at Damon to ask him how he could be in love with this woman, but the words died in her mouth when she saw the pale, horrified and extremely hurt expression on his face. At this brief moment in time, he looked like the human Damon she remembered.

"Anyway, I came back once I knew you'd reincarnated, didn't I?"

"Only because I'm useful to you." Chloe rolled her eyes. "If you're not going to help us with the Five problem, don't be a distraction."

"You're so _touchy_,_" _she snickered. "But fine, whatever you say." With that, and a mocking kissing sound, she hung up.

"CHLOE?" Caroline's voice called from the cabin.

"I'm out here!" She turned to find Damon gone. He'd been an utterly useless memory. She hurried into the house to find that Caroline was awake and seated by the chimney. "You okay?"

"I heard voices. I was worried," Caroline admitted.

"Katherine called." Chloe rolled her eyes and sat next to the other blonde as she stared at the dark veins. "Come on, you need to feed." She rolled up her sleeve and offered her arm to the vampire, who still visibly controlled herself as she sunk her fangs into her. Chloe's phone vibrated with a text from Jeremy, which she read while Caroline feed.

**_How are things going? Bonnie is, as always, bringing you the work you've missed. We're going to bring some meat to make steaks. You're getting paler each time I see you. Elena is the cook in the house, and Matt knows enough from working at the Grill, so they said they'd come over and cook the steaks for us. Tyler says he has news about Robertson and will meet us there. Missed you in school. Even though we're in different grades we always hang out at lunch and break and it sucks not having you here._**

She smiled as she eyed the _long_ message. With one hand she typed back a message to him.

**_Things are fine. Had a memory about Damon Salvatore after he turned into a vampire. It was useless. Steaks sounds great. I wonder what Tyler has managed to find out?_**

She hesitated and looked down at the text before she added:

**_I miss you too._**

She sent it off quickly before she could rethink and delete the last section.

"Why don't you two just get together already? Officially I mean." Caroline had eased her fangs from Chloe's arm and was eyeing her with that very Caroline Forbes look. "You're obviously in love with him, and everyone knows he's crazy about you." She wiped the blood from her mouth. "And this isn't the first lifetime you've felt this way about each other." Having been caught up to speed about the reincarnations and such, Caroline was taking it all in with ease. Then again, she was a vampire now, so why should reincarnation seem like such a stretch? "You're meant to be together. Stop being so proud and give in already. You know you want to."

"It's not just pride, Caroline," Chloe sighed. "My feelings for Jeremy put him in danger. Not just from Klaus, but from Lionel. Thaddeus felt the same way about Evelyn – just the fact that he cared about her put a target on her back. And she died."

"She killed herself," Caroline corrected. "Girl Jeremy didn't die because loving you - or boy you - put her in danger. Girl Jeremy died because she loved boy you and boy you died." She folded her arms over her chest. "You don't know how long you have alive, Chloe. Look at me. I never planned on becoming one of the fashionably undead. I had—I had plans. I wanted to become Miss Mystic, and graduate and marry my high school sweetheart and then have his beautiful babies. I wanted the whole white picket fence." She lowered her gaze and visibly forced herself to cheer up. "But I'm a vampire now and that changes things. That means I can't have what I wanted, and had I known that I would've done things differently. But, well…" she pouted. "I think I've forgotten where I was going with this."

Chloe smiled. "Why didn't we hang out more before you died?"

Caroline smiled back. "Because you were too busy trying to make sure that no one wanted to be your friend." She leaned closer. "FYI – that backfired."

Chloe snorted in laughter. "That _had_ occurred to me!"

"So, you know, give Jeremy a chance." Caroline nudged her shoulder into hers. "Even when she didn't know about the whole reincarnated lovers thing Elena never stopped saying how she felt that you'd been sent to Mystic Falls to help her brother. You're good for him, and let's be honest, he's been good for you too."

Chloe smiled softly to herself. "He has."

"Now, tell me, what did the flirty murderer want?" Caroline leaned closer.

Chloe rolled her green eyes. "What she always wants."

"To take over the world?" Caroline quipped.

Chloe's lips twitched in amusement. "Now how did you guess?"

A knock on the door had both blondes' smiles disappearing as Chloe motioned Caroline towards the cellar as she stood with a whispered: "No matter what you hear, do _not_ come out." She waited for Caroline to swiftly and silently close the door behind her, and rolled down her sleeve before she made her way towards the door. She opened it and then froze for a second, sure she couldn't keep the shock from her expression when Robertson stood in the doorway.

"Hello," he spoke, his voice level. He didn't seem at all shocked to see her.

And that meant that he'd known she was there.

Reaching into her pocket, which was half-hidden behind the door, Chloe speed-dialed Jeremy's number before she slipped outside and closed the door behind her. "What are you doing here?"

"I should ask you that considering you should be in school right now," he declared.

"What are you, the attendance police?" She snapped before she calmed herself. "What do you want? You obviously knew I was here when you knocked so I'm assuming you came to see me."

"You don't seem to trust me," he deduced.

"You seem to be stalking me," she declared.

He merely held his hand out. There was a faint and different scent on his glove than the day that they'd met.

She stared at it, arms folded over her chest. "What?"

"I'm being polite," he assured her.

"You're being creepy," she assured him, but when he kept his hand out she shook it before bringing hers to her nose. One whiff told her what he'd covered her hand with, and she couldn't stop her growl. "Wolfsbane." She took a step towards him. "Are. You. Serious?"

His eyes widened. "You know about-?"

"Listen here Mister Five." She couldn't stop herself as she poked him, hard, on the chest. "I don't know what the hell you think I am, but I'd appreciate it if you stopped stalking me and get a freaking life! I have better things to do than to shake your hand just so you can see whether Vervain or Wolfsbane or whatever else you have available to soak your glove in works against me!" She didn't even notice that he'd backed down the porch steps until her feet hit the ground, her finger still poking him furiously.

He finally reacted and grabbed her wrist painfully, keeping her from poking him further. "What. Are. You? You're not human. I can _feel_ it. So if you're not a vampire or a werewolf, what the hell are you?"

"I'm annoyed! I'm freaking annoyed!" She glared up at him. "If you don't stay the hell away from me, I'm going to get a restraining order against you. And I can do that. One of my friends is the daughter of the sheriff. So if I were you I'd get the hell out of Mystic Falls before things get uncomfortable for you."

"I'm not leaving Mystic Falls until I've done my duty and have gotten rid of the supernatural plague infesting this place. It's so deep-rooted it makes me _nauseas_." He tightened his grip on her arm painfully. "I will destroy every single ounce of it from this place, purify it, and only once I've saved this town and its people, will I go."

"Are. You. Done?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

He appeared quite annoyed that she wasn't more impressed or intimidated by his self-righteous monologue. "I will find out what you are, and I will deal with you."

The sound of a vehicle speeding in their direction caused both to look up to see Bonnie's car racing towards them, Bonnie and Jeremy within. It screeched to a stop, raining dust and pebbles all around them, and then in the suffocating and blinding dust, Chloe felt Robertson fall away from her and hit the ground with a violent thud.

"Stay the hell away from her!" Jeremy's voice was a snarl, and as the dust settled it revealed that he now stood in front of her, his gaze dark and murderous on Robertson.

"_You_." Robertson eyed Jeremy as he stood. "You don't understand anything." He brushed himself off. "You're one of _us_."

Jeremy narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"You could see the tattoos." Robertson raised his chin. "Only potential successors can see them."

Chloe's eyes widened behind Jeremy.

"One day _you_ will be the one hunting, destroying, these creatures of evil." Roberston's gaze shifted towards Chloe. "If I don't kill her, one day _you_ will."

No one saw it coming. Jeremy moved so quickly it was almost inhuman as he pushed Roberston against the car and pressed a blade (where had he gotten it?) to the man's throat. "I should kill you right now."

"Jeremy, you can't." Bonnie raised her hand up. "The Hunter's Curse, remember?"

Hunter's Curse? What was that?

"I don't care," Jeremy hissed into Robertson's face. "If it keeps her safe I'll face whatever punishment I get."

"No you won't!" Chloe grabbed Jeremy's shirt and tried to jerk him away, surprised to find that she couldn't – physically couldn't – and she could manhandle a human werewolf! "Jeremy, listen to me, I don't know what this Hunter's Curse is, but whatever it is, it isn't worth it. He isn't worth it."

"_You're_ worth it," Jeremy whispered softly.

"Jere, no. _Please._" She wrapped her arms around him with behind, her cheek against his back. "Don't do anything that takes you away from me."

He froze, his whole body tense in shock, and then she felt him pull away from Robertson, letting him go. Jeremy turned, shifted, so that Chloe (who still held onto him) was rested in the crook of his arm. "Never," he promised.

She smiled up at him.

Bonnie smiled at the both of them, before she narrowed her eyes on Robertson. "If I were you I'd escape while she has him in a lovey-dovey haze. And don't ever come back here and bother us or our friends again. You have no business here and next time we won't just let you go."

"You're consorting with monsters, little girl," Robertson hissed to her. "They'll turn on you."

Chloe could see that Bonnie was highly tempted to use magic and hurt this guy, but the blonde hurried forwards, catching both of their attention. She didn't want Bonnie giving away what she was, not when Robertson had nothing concrete on anyone except for a gut feeling. Plus, she didn't know what the Five's stance were on witches. "Just go, Robertson." She raised an eyebrow. "And just so you know, I'm getting that restraining order. I have enough witnesses who can back me up on your stalking and harassing."

He sneered and walked away.

She had a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach that that wouldn't be the last time that they would see him.

* * *

><p>"He had <em>Wolfsbane<em>?" Tyler looked between everyone in the living room, eyes wide. "Would that work on me if I haven't actually turned?"

"I don't know, but I'm working on finding out," Bonnie promised him.

Tyler nodded. "If you need any help on the werewolf research front, I'm in." At everyone's surprised looks he scoffed. "It's important I know this information, of course I'm going to help. I'm not just beauty and brawn, you know."

From the kitchen, Matt and Elena (who were in the midst of cooking) snorted.

"Oh hush, you two," Tyler glared at them, which was easy considering the open-concept of the cabin and the fact that the kitchen flowed into the living room.

"So what was it that _you_ wanted to tell us about the Hunter?" Jeremy wanted to know from where he sat on the ground and leaned back against Chloe's seat, his arms up and elbows rested on her knees.

"Right." Tyler nodded and turned towards Jeremy and Chloe. "It's not so much about Robertson as it is about the Supernatural Hunting Council we already knew were here." He cleared his throat. "I think it's the Town Council." When everyone's eyes widened he cleared his throat. "I saw Robertson talking to the sheriff and I got curious, you know?" He sighed. "Thing is I was able to hear parts of the conversation and it seemed like there were some murders that he was asking about and then the word Vampire got thrown in there. The sheriff looked shocked and then denied something and then Robertson said something that made her invite him to the next Town Council Meeting."

"The Town Council." Caroline was horribly pale. "Our _parents_ are on that council."

"At least those with Founding Fathers lineage." Matt turned to his girlfriend. "Didn't your father have a position on the Town Council?"

Elena turned to look at Jeremy and nodded. "Yeah."

"Our father was a vampire hunter." Jeremy couldn't look more shocked if he tried.

"Maybe that was why Robertson said you had a potential to be one of the Five," Bonnie pointed out to him. "Maybe it runs in your blood."

"We can't let him go to that meeting." It was, surprisingly enough, Elena who declared that as she moved towards the living room. "He knows something is off about Chloe, and if he can really _sense_ the supernatural he'll find out about Caroline. He'll report the two of them to the Town Council and they might-they might-."

"My mother might kill me." Caroline's voice was soft and horrified, terribly pained.

"Elena's right." Bonnie nibbled on her bottom lip. "We can't let him go to that meeting."

"Who says that he'll wait for the meeting to tell?" Matt wanted to know. "He could be telling the sheriff everything as we speak."

"He'll want the whole Council to hear it," Jeremy disagreed. "He'll want them to have his back, to see that they need him, and for the most potent response he'll have to tell them all at once."

"I agree," Tyler sighed. "But that doesn't give us much time. The meeting is tomorrow night."

The group stared at each other in silence, not sure what they could do to stop Robertson without triggering the horrible curse inflicted on those who killed one of the Five.

Tyler groaned and leaned back hard against the chair. "This is going to be a long night."

* * *

><p><strong>TBC<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Don't own Smallville/The Vampire Diaries**

* * *

><p>They all slept at the cabin that night since it wasn't safe for Chloe and Caroline to be alone, and anyway, those in the group needed to stick together and come up with some sort of game plan. Bonnie had taken some books from her Grams that had references to the Five (which was where she'd found out about the Hunter's Curse) and everyone had spent the night reading and trying to not only understand their enemy's weakness, but his strengths as well.<p>

Caroline and Chloe went to school the next day because, although Caroline was still struggling with her vampirism, they needed the girl to appear in the daylight, with many witnesses in case Robertson figured things out and told anyone. To keep Caroline from vamping (or vein-ing) out during class, the two blondes kept sneaking off to the bathroom after every three classes so Caroline could feed. They really needed Robertson dealt with, not only because he was a threat, but because Chloe was seriously becoming fatigued by being Caroline's sole source of blood. It seemed to do wonders for the vampire though, who was peppy and completely like herself.

"Miss Alexander, are you still feeling ill?" Mister Cole asked in uncharacteristic worry when she fell asleep in his class.

She supposed that her behavior during her first day back made her "too sick to go to school" story seem more believable. She just gave her teacher a small smile, apologized, and did her best to stay awake.

Bonnie looked worried, and Caroline guilty.

Chloe fell asleep in class once more and didn't notice either girls' expression.

* * *

><p>Jeremy Gilbert was planning very dark things as he ran his fingers through Chloe's hair. She'd fallen asleep during lunch and was leaning her head against his shoulder, snoring softly. Bonnie and Caroline had told him that she'd spent the morning dozing off in class, and both were worried that despite the efforts to keep her blood level high, the constant feeding was draining the girl. And it couldn't come at a worse time given the fact that they had Robertson to deal with.<p>

"Maybe Matt, Tyler and I can alternate getting blood," Elena whispered the last word. "At least Matt and I are completely human and Robertson should feel that. He mightn't pay attention to us."

"If he's keeping an eye on Chloe he knows we're a part of her group," Tyler countered. "Plus, he'll be keeping an eye on people buying blood anyway."

"Ty's right," Matt sighed.

"She can't keep feeding Caroline on her own." Bonnie frowned darkly. "I mean, look at her, she doesn't say anything but it's obviously taking a lot out of her."

"With Robertson's eyes on Mystic Falls we can't do anything," Tyler growled.

"What about outside of Mystic Falls?" Jeremy suddenly looked up. "We could go to a butcher outside of town and get the blood."

Matt straightened up. "Ty and I could leave now and be back with blood in a couple of hours."

Tyler grinned. "I'm all up for ditching class."

Elena looked between them. "Be careful."

Matt kissed his girlfriend's lips and then, with Tyler, stood and hurried towards the parking lot.

Bonnie watched them go before she sighed. "I've been sneaking some studying during classes and there is no way around the Hunter's Curse. If you kill one of the Five you are cursed to be tormented nonstop and driven insane by their spirit for as long as you live – or until another Hunter is chosen to take the place they vacated with their death."

"Can we trap him?" Caroline wanted to know. "Isn't there that place under the Lockwood land?"

"And what? We feed him for the rest of his life until he dies of old age?" Bonnie made a face. "Plus, he could always escape – and if he died like that we still run the risk of activating the curse – both the Hunter's Curse and Tyler's werewolf curse."

Caroline grumbled. "This is impossible."

Chloe whimpered in her sleep and pulled closer to Jeremy.

He stared down at her face and something within him clenched. There was no way, Hunter or not, that he could ever allow anything to happen to her – much less be the one to inflict the pain on her. "Whatever we do, we're going to have to do it, fast."

* * *

><p>They had PE. It was probably the worse class for her to return to given her state, and thankfully her PE teacher was uncharacteristically nice to her. Mrs Fraiser had sent her to the infirmary after the second time she'd tripped and nearly fallen on her face. Apparently news of Chloe's illness and spread throughout the school and the teachers believed her, which was probably because she'd had a relatively perfect attendance score.<p>

It was why she lay in the bed in the infirmary. Mrs Harrow had said she was running a bit of a fever and had given her something to "sleep it off". She'd been blissfully sleeping when she'd realized she couldn't breathe and had opened her mouth in desperation only to find weird tasting water shoved down her throat. Her eyes flew open as she was forced to drink the concoction, and then gulped in air viciously, as she stared at Robertson, who had a grip on her nose.

"What…" she coughed and batted it away. "What did you give me?"

"I know what you are," he hissed at her.

Well, that was one of them.

"And I'm going to show the Council tonight just how deep the corruption has gotten in this town! Even those related to the Founding Families have this filth in them!" And before she could counter, the girl still greedily sucking in air, he slammed her head into the wall and all went black.

* * *

><p>She'd been taken.<p>

Sheriff Forbes was at the scene taking in witness statements but other than Chloe being missing, and the bloody dent in the wall, there was no one who could tell what had happened. Jeremy stood there with his friends, his fists clenched. He knew what had happened. He knew who had taken Chloe, and it burned him not to be able to tell the sheriff, not to be able to trust the people who were supposed to take care of them – protect them. If he told Sheriff Forbes that Robertson had taken her, she'd automatically believe Chloe to be supernatural and probably sanction the whole thing – sweep it under the rug. He wasn't about to let that happen.

"We've got to find her before he hurts her," Elena whispered, her hand in Jeremy's squeezing tightly.

"That blood is definitely hers." Caroline looked in pain, as if she was desperately trying to keep her face from vamping out. "I'd recognize the smell of it anywhere. The scent leads out into the parking lot and then vanishes. He must've put her in a vehicle."

"Do you still have that dagger you took off of Robertson during your confrontation?" Bonnie asked Jeremy softly.

He nodded. "I wasn't about to give it back to him."

"Good." Bonnie took in a deep breath. "We're going to use it in a locator spell." When everyone turned to look at her in surprise, her expression turned grim. "We're going to find where he is, and we're going to stop him – whatever it takes."

* * *

><p>"You shouldn't be awake."<p>

Chloe tugged at the shackles pinning her arms to the dungeon walls. "What did you give me?"

"You. Shouldn't. Be. Awake." He knelt in front of her.

"What. Did. You. Give. Me?" She turned to glare at him despite the pain in her head. She doubted what he'd given her had affected her – no – it'd been the blow to her head.

He narrowed his eyes. "The iron should've knocked you out and kept you painfully sedated until the Council meeting tonight."

"_Iron_?" Chloe scoffed. "Why would you give me-?" Her eyes then widened. "You think I'm a _fairy_?" She then burst out laughing. "Why would you think I'm a fairy?" Her laughter definitely had Robertson frowning and doubting himself. "Wait. Are fairies even _real_?"

He let out a sound of utter agitation as he reached out and grabbed her chin painfully. "What are you? It'll be less painful for you to tell me, believe me. Otherwise I'm going to have to figure out myself – and my tests are pretty invasive to say the least."

"You know, you give off a mad scientist vibe," she informed him, bluffing her courage. "Or, well, just a _mad_ vibe, at least." She expected the backhand across her cheek but it still stung like hell. "That all you got?"

"You want me to beat you more?" He snickered.

"Yeah." She nodded. "I want to be all black and blue when the sheriff finds me so there'll be no question about what sort of psycho you are."

"The sheriff will understand, she and the Council will applaud me for what I'm doing." He smirked. "They'll value me for the knowledge I'll bring to them."

"Knowledge? You really so sure about that?" She raised an eyebrow. "I mean, you can't even figure out what _I_ am. You don't sound too knowledgeable to _me_." She expected the backhand once more, and once more it hurt like hell.

He gripped her chin and raised it painfully so that he stared straight into her eyes. "Don't tempt me to kill you before tonight."

Staring into his fevered eyes, like with Damon Chloe felt the shift without even having thought about using the power. That thing within her cried out in pain warningly. "You're not going to wait until tonight. You're going to call the sheriff and tell her she has to call the Council meeting _now_. You have a _very_ dangerous creature with you and you can't contain it for much longer – you need the whole council to see this."

His pupils shifted – they shifted! – she hadn't even known she _could_ do this to people who weren't vampires! "I'll call Sheriff Forbes."

"Yes, you will." Chloe's voice echoed as she did her best to ignore the pain of the cracking inside of her. "And then, while we're there, this is exactly what will happen."

* * *

><p>"They're under the Town Council Building." Bonnie stared at the map, eyes narrowed. They were all at the Gilbert's house, congregated in Elena's room. "Why would they be there?"<p>

"Maybe they're having the meeting." Elena frowned as she leaned forwards.

"But Tyler said that the meeting is tonight," Caroline whispered.

"He has Chloe – he might be taking her to the meeting – that might be why they've hurried up the schedule." Jeremy clenched his fists. "It means he knows what she is and how to prove it."

"We have to do something." Matt pushed away from the wall he'd been leaning on. He and Tyler had been returning with the blood when he'd gotten Elena's text about what had happened. The boys had raced back and met everyone at the Gilberts'. "We can't let them kill her. She protected us as best as she could when we didn't even know we needed protection."

Tyler licked his lips. "I agree that we can't let anything happen to her – but Caroline, Bonnie and I can't go to that meeting."

"Talk for yourself!" Bonnie snapped.

"He's right." Jeremy narrowed his eyes and hated agreeing. "We're going to infiltrate a vampire hunting council, and we don't know what else they hunt. Only the humans can go. Only the humans will be safe."

"That leaves you, me and Elena." Matt frowned.

"That's all we'll need." Jeremy looked up at them. "This is what we're going to do."

* * *

><p>When the burlap sack was yanked from her head, Chloe was thrown to her knees in front of a council of gasps of horror. She kept on her knees despite the pain in her body, and made sure to get a good look at everyone who consisted of the Vampire Hunting Council. Not only were the Mayor and his wife, as well as Sheriff Forbes there, but so was Zach… and at least one member of each Founding Family.<p>

Zach stood rapidly. "What are you _doing?_ She's my n-niece!"

"She's a creature of evil!" Robertson snapped as he grabbed her by her hair. "Your town is _infested_ by monsters, and you've all grown so complacent that you are blind to what is going on before your very eyes!"

"That is a _child_!" Mrs Lockwood stood, horrified. "I know her and she is _no_ monster!"

"She goes to school, in the sunlight," Mayor Lockwood growled as he too stood.

"Ignorant fools," Robertson snarled.

"We have tea every week." Zach looked around them, addressing the people, his voice quite desperate. "She has _vervain tea_ every week! She is not a vampire!"

There was a loud murmur amongst the group.

"Uncle Zach?" Chloe was in pain, a lot of it, and it made the sorrowful sound of her voice echo through the room. "Mayor and Mrs Lockwood? What's going on?"

"SILENCE!" Robertson snarled and shook her by her hair.

"That's enough!" Sheriff Forbes snapped.

"WATCH!" Robertson let go of Chloe to open a container from his bag, which he dipped his glove into. "Vervain!" And with that he pressed his hand up against her throat… Nothing happened.

People began to stand.

Roberston froze for a moment, before he grabbed another container. "I—I used the wrong gel!" He hurriedly pulled out another container and dipped his glove into it. "Wolfsbane!"

Mayor Lockwood shifted uncomfortably away.

Robertson grabbed Chloe with the glove… and nothing happened.

Already she could see the tide turning against the member of the Five as yells echoed throughout the air.

Sheriff Forbes pulled out her gun and aimed it at Robertson. "Step away from the girl."

When he dropped Chloe she made sure to begin crying, which wasn't too hard to do considering the pain she was in. The Council were all highly worried, concerned, and obviously had never had something like this happened before. They looked, to say the least, terrified.

"I meant to give her iron! She's a fairy!" Roberston reached in for his other container.

"That is _enough_, Robertson." Mayor Lockwood snarled as he moved forwards. "We will _not_ let you do anything further to this poor child!"

"You're _insane_!" Mrs Lockwood whimpered in horror.

"Imagine – _fairies_," one of the councilmen huffed. "The man's freaking nuts!"

Robertson rose to his full-height, enraged. "I AM ONE OF THE FIVE! I WAS ORDAINED TO FIGHT EVIL! TO SLAY VAMPIRES AND-."

"Torture innocent girls!" Zach snarled.

Lifting Chloe up by her hair, Robertson held her in front of him. "She's deceiving you. The Five can sense the supernatural, and this girl is part of that world. Let me force water with iron specks down her throat, or cut her with my obsidian blade, or mix her blood with cobra venom, or-." When Chloe whimpered he chuckled. "AHA! That's what you are, isn't it? You're a Lamia!" He turned to Mr Fell. "Pass me the cobra venom! Quick! I'll bleed her and-."

The sound of two heavy thuds behind them was Chloe's only warning before suddenly Robertson was falling and her with him. Something heavy thudded as arms gripped her, kept her from hitting the ground.

"I'm going to kill him," Jeremy's voice was a dark promise as he pulled her into his arms and surveyed the damage. "I'm going to _kill_ him!"

Matt, who held a baseball bat in his hand, turned the council. "Were you just going to _stand_ there and let him hurt her?"

Mayor Lockwood looked shaky, confused. "How do you children know about this place?"

Sheriff Forbes hurried to cuff the unconscious Roberston and had the deputies in attendance escort him out.

"We followed _him_." Elena stepped forwards, condemnation in her eyes. "We've been looking for Chloe since she was taken, and we saw him throwing her into his truck. We followed him here and were waiting for you people to actually _help_ her while this raving _lunatic_ was yelling about vampires and werewolves and such _stupidity_ like that-."

"But since you all were just content on doing _nothing_ we had to do something ourselves." That was Matt, his eyes narrowed and disgusted.

The adults in the room shrunk back.

Jeremy turned to leave. "We're taking you to the hospital."

"Son, I think it's better if we call the ambulance and-." Mayor Lockwood began.

"I'm not your son!" Jeremy snapped. "And I'm not about to listen to _anyone_ who just sat back and let him hurt her!" People flinched, shame visible on their faces.

Zach pushed pass people and came towards them. "Come on, I'll call the hospital so they'll know we're on our way."

Jeremy merely nodded and let Zach lead the way out. He held Chloe firmly yet in a way that proved that he was doing his best not to disturb the cuts and bruises all over her body. His was tense, and there was something dark in him at that moment that Chloe didn't recognize.

She wanted to thank him for coming, as she'd known he would, wanted to assure him that she was fine and that she'd suffered through what she had willing to throw the council off of their trail (and cause them to distrust Robertson or anyone else who might breeze into town wanting to 'help'), but before she could, Chloe fainted from pain.

* * *

><p>According to Sheriff Forbes Robertson was locked away for assault on a minor and other convictions. She'd promised the youths he'd pay for what he'd done. Jeremy didn't trust her, and he was sure she could tell. It really terrified him to realize that, had they been able to prove Chloe wasn't human, they might've not only allowed Robertson to continue – but might've participated themselves. In his eyes, the Vampire Hunting Council of Mystic Falls was his number one enemy right now. Lionel and this mysterious Klaus guy tied for second place. Katherine Pierce had been bumped all the way down to third position.<p>

"We'll go visit her the second the hospital allows us to tomorrow." Aunt Jenna, was horrified. She wasn't from a Founding Family and not only wasn't a part of the Council, but didn't seem to even know of its existence. She, like the others, thought that a 'lunatic' had interrupted a normal Council meeting. The teenagers had been sworn to secrecy over certain situations, and while they'd agreed to the terms, Jeremy knew that a divide had been born between the Council (or the adults in authority) and the teenagers. They all knew now that should Tyler accidentally trigger his werewolf gene – or should Elena turn into a vampire – or should Matt become a leprechaun – they'd be on the hit list.

"You should've seen her." Matt frowned, seated on the loveseat with his arms around Elena, who was red-eyed from crying. "She was black and blue all over."

"What sort of animal could do something like that?" Jenna whispered in horror. "Poor girl."

Jeremy looked down at his phone when it vibrated with a text from Bonnie. **_Tyler and I are staying with Caroline at the cabin. She's not doing so great but we're keeping things under control._**

He texted back: _**If you need anything, just text.**_

_**Will do. **_She responded before sending one last message. _**Chloe will be fine, Jere. We saved her. And at least for now, we're all safe.**_

_'At least for now'._ Jeremy sighed as he looked up at the ceiling. _That's the problem._

* * *

><p>"How long have you known?" Damon asked, gaze still on Chloe Sullivan from Smallville, Kansas, as she slept, deeply sedated in the Mystic Falls hospital. When he'd seen the girl he'd nearly killed while under the control of Lionel freaking Luthor, the realization that Miss Intrepid Reporter had known about his vampirism and true identity had definitely left him in a killing mood. And yet just as Adam Knight hadn't been whom he appeared to be, neither had Chloe Sullivan… or Chloe "Alexander", as she seemed to go by here.<p>

From the shadows, Stefan emerged. Neither brother had seen each other in far too long, and their many partings were never amicable. "A while now."

"And you didn't think I should know that our 'bestie' was reincarnated?" Damon paused. "As a _girl_?" He smirked at the thought. Thaddeus was a _girl_. He was never going to allow him to live that down.

"It's not as if we've been in contact," Stefan murmured as he leaned against the doorframe and eyed the sleeping girl. "Katherine is alive. I've seen her myself, here in Mystic Falls."

A muscle jumped in Damon's cheek as anger and hurt warred inside of him. He'd spent so many years mourning Katherine's loss – and then planning her rescue. That was why he were here in Mystic Falls! Katherine's rescue had been his only reason to live since he'd turned – and now he found out that she'd never been trapped. She'd been free all this time and just hadn't cared about him or Stefan enough to come to them. She'd purposely made them think she was dead and gone – or at least desiccated. All his love for her turned into hatred unlike anything he'd ever felt before – alive or undead.

"There's a girl who looks like her, identical, actually, but she's nothing like Katherine." Stefan gave a shrug. "From what I can tell, she's a part of the humans in Thaddeus' group. He has a Bennett witch and a newly turned vampire with him too."

"You mean _she_." This was so trippy.

Stefan flinched. "I'm still getting used to that part."

"Since when was Thaddeus a witch?" Damon wanted to know. "I don't remember him being a witch."

"Me neither," Stefan admitted.

"Whatever," he shrugged. "So what's your plan?" Damon sent him a look over his shoulder. "Are you going to confront Thaddeus or are you going to just lurk around like a stalker?"

Stefan sent him a glare. "I'm not stalking. I'm doing reconnaissance."

"Riiiight. Like the judge will believe that when you're brought up on charges of stalkery and creepery."

"If anyone would be brought up on those charges, Damon, it'd be you."

"Well, you're probably right." Damon grinned, unrepentant. "So. We're just going to watch for now? See what Thaddus is up to?"

"_We_ are not going to do anything." Stefan glared at him. "_You_ are going to leave Mystic Falls before you do something I can't clean up after."

"Tsk tsk tsk, little brother," Damon shook his head. "If you think I'm about to leave now, you definitely don't know me."

Stefan let out a deep-rooted, disturbed sigh.

Proud of the way he exasperated his younger brother, Damon grinned as his gaze returned to Chloe.

His unlife was about to become highly intriguing.

* * *

><p><strong>The End of Synergy of the Soul.<strong>


End file.
